An intimate home café, hosted on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

Espresso and matcha served in custom milk-glass mugs, paired alongside homemade pastries. Enjoyed by friends, new and old, packed inside a cozy Brooklyn apartment.

A group poem exercise was completed by all who attended. Guests answered seemingly disparate one-liner prompts, which had been cut out from a larger vision.

The vision was as follows:

If one were to write the poem by themselves, from start to finish, we’d expect cohesion and continuity. Even if the topic jumped between topics, (i.e. the past, present, and future) there would be an explainable story to it. Perhaps some lines would rhyme, or foreshadow ideas, or built on top of extended metaphors. Perhaps some lines wouldn't make any sense at all, but intentionally.

And that’s because the poet owns full control over the total experience they create.

But what happens when a poem is deconstructed, then reconstructed, by many different minds, who write as they share a common space?

We get to enjoy the following:

As We Swim Through Color and Time

Today, wasting time
Snow sprinkles silently here
Get high after work

Blue, I’m swimmingly happy
Long nights by the fire, under the mistletoe
Rigid
Big leap for healing journey
Frigid

A dry paper cut
Look up, not a cloud in sight
Creamy orb goes “crack”

Octopus, white black navy
When trees are green and parks are full
Sunny
Train shrine, tea moon hum, nest, lore
Tummy

Calm peaceful brewing
On the couch in jeans, cozy
Odd, fierce, calm, full fun